In a series of town hall interviews on MSNBC, Trump stood by his pro-life stance and Clinton rejected it. In an interview with Chris Matthews, Trump said that abortion should be banned — with exceptions for rape, incest and danger to the mother's life — and that women who get abortions should then be punished.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow then asked Clinton for her reaction to Trump's answers.

Clinton started slow, saying his response was “outrageous and dangerous.” She added that his statements would make both women and doctors criminals.

But then Maddow asked if this should be dismissed as just more baiting by Trump to get media attention. And that's when Clinton dug in:

To think that this is an issue that is not deserving of reaction just demonstrates a lack of appreciation for how serious this is. This goes to the heart of who we are as women, what kind of rights and choices we have.

Clinton said that abortion rights should be deemed as important as economic issues. She said:

So much of the Republican agenda is to turn the clock back on women. Make no mistake about it, Rachel.

She made the point that Matthews had made to Trump, that it doesn't matter what your belief is — abortion is a legal, protected right in the United States. Clinton acknowledged that women's access to abortion is being taken away by state laws. She said:

That's one of the real dangers that women in many states are facing, that their healthcare decisions are being basically ripped away for partisan political reasons. And Donald Trump is on the real spearpoint of this assault on women's rights.

Clinton is right. In the last month, states including Indiana, Florida, Louisiana and West Virginia have faced challenges to their access to abortion.

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Alexandra is the Senior News Editor at Elite Daily. She previously worked at HuffPost and has been published in Vox, Glamour, Refinery 29, Mic, Cosmopolitan and Quartz. Find her on Twitter / FB @asvokos and at tinyletter.com/asvokos

Alexandra is the Senior News Editor at Elite Daily. She previously worked at HuffPost and has been published in Vox, Glamour, Refinery 29, Mic, Cosmopolitan and Quartz. Find her on Twitter / FB @asvokos and at tinyletter.com/asvokos